


Come, Armageddon, Come

by AceQueenKing



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 11:19:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11966283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/pseuds/AceQueenKing
Summary: Miranda and Shepard have a brief moment to heal after Sanctuary.Like most moments with Miranda, it's not long enough.





	Come, Armageddon, Come

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spookykingdomstarlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookykingdomstarlight/gifts).



It wasn’t until she’d gotten Miranda back to the Normandy’s bedroom that Shepard realized exactly how badly she wanted to kill Henry Lawson. In the heat of the moment, it had been easier to convince herself of focusing on the mission, what needed to be done.

Now that she was stuck at the after-effects, she was aghast at what the man had done to his own daughter. Miranda had asked her to help her with bandages, not wanting to take up Chakwas’ time when there were other injured. Shepard had been more than willing to bind up her injuries – especially if it meant time along with her girlfriend – but she hadn’t realized, in the heat of the moment, how severe Miranda’s injuries were.

She stared down at Miranda’s bare back, which was more purple than the pale, peach coloring of Miranda that she’d spent so many long months fantasizing about. She poured medigel on her sterilized fingers and ran her hand down the long bruise. No blood at least, but Shepard knew it had to hurt like hell.

“It’s worse than it looks,” Miranda said softly, and Shepard knew she must have been staring. She looked up to find Miranda watching her closely, her intelligent, dark eyes all-but smiling in the dark.

“It looks bad,” Shepard grunted. “Just because you’re tough as hell doesn’t mean it’s not a bad injury.”

“I’m still here,” Miranda said, then winced as Shepard pressed a long bandage down her back.

“I think you might need to see Chakwas after all,” she murmured. Shepard wasn’t a doctor, but she knew internal bleeding could take someone down before they were even aware of it. Miranda twisted onto her belly, and Shepard winced as she saw another long bruise, running down Miranda’s stomach.

“I’m a doctor, remember?” Miranda smiled. “I have no intention of bleeding out, Shepard.”

Shepard didn’t agree or disagree, keeping her mouth set in a neutral smile. Miranda had brought her back to life but tended to be a bit more reckless with her own life versus Shepard’s. Miranda might have raised her from the dead, but Shepard couldn’t do the same for her, and she would be _damned_ if she was going to lose her.

She pressed a hand into the medigel and ran it down Miranda’s stomach, trying to force herself to focus on the fact that Miranda was still breathing, still alive, and safe, for now.

“I’ll go in the morning, or if the symptoms get worse,” Miranda promised. She reached out and grabbed Shepard’s hand and Shepard squeezed her hand, relieved.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll drag you down there myself if you become unresponsive, you know.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Miranda said, weakly smiling. She tugged on Shepard’s arm, an unsaid request to lie down, and Shepard did so, laying next to her girlfriend and holding her tight. Miranda clung to her as well and they held one another, losing all concept of time except in the time they shared together. Shepard concentrated on memorizing Miranda, everything about her – her soft breath, the cool whiff of eezo, the long hair that tumbled over her face from time to time.

Neither wanted to break the silence. Shepard stroked Miranda’s face and Miranda’s arms wrapped around her waist. She relaxed and felt the first tendrils of sleep curling around the edges of her consciousness, but resisted. She was well aware, now more than ever, at how little time any of them might have left in this universe.

“What comes next?” She finally said, daring the break the silence. Miranda pulled herself up, resting her head on her elbow, and cupped her face with her free hand.

“The usual.” Miranda smiled. “Protect my sister, help the war effort for the Alliance. They’ve already requested both of us for the Crucible project. It’s my best chance at keeping Oriena safe,” she said as if already feeling the need to defend her decision.

“I know,” Shepard said, daring to dart forward and kiss Miranda, a long kiss to let her know there were no judgments about leaving. “I don’t want to see you go, but...I’ll be glad you’re there, and safe. As safe as it gets right now, anyway.”

“And I’ll be worrying about you all the while,” Miranda said, a feeble if warm smile on her face. “You can’t die out there, Shepard. We’ve worked far too hard to not get a happy ending at the end of this.”

“There’s a lot of people working hard and dying out there,” Shepard said, and tried not to think of the long list of dead that arrived in her inbox nearly every morning, nor the long and growing longer line of the dead that decorated the Normandy’s mess hall. “But I’ll do my best to make sure I’m not one of them.”

“Good,” Miranda said, and again neither of them spoke for a long while, content to simply lay in one another’s arms. The mood was heavy, and Shepard felt it pressing on them both, all but pinning them to the bed. Miranda wasn’t smiling, her eyes already sad. Shepard didn’t want to remember her being sad.

“On the plus side,” Shepard whispered, “I hear once you survive the Apocalypse, it makes all other domestic disputes a snap to solve.”

Miranda broke into a fit of giggles, and Shepard memorized the moment, the way the lines around Miranda’s eyes appeared when she smiled, the way she covertly dried the tears that came from the sheer relief of a bad joke with one finger subtly, the grace of her giant, gleaming smile.

“Well, that’s good. Hate to survive the apocalypse only to have to spend most of my time in divorce court.”

Shepard snorted. “Don’t think you have to worry about that.”

“No,” Miranda’s grip on her tightened. “Don’t suppose I will.”

Shepard couldn’t say which of them sought the other first, whose lips sought the others most hungrily; she only knew they both needed it, clinging to one another, their mouths trying desperately to seek some kind of communion with one another before they were snatched away again

“Marry me,” Shepard said in a huffed breath as they separated for a moment to breathe. Miranda didn’t even look surprised at her request; Shepard supposed they both needed it, needed something to come back to.

“Of course,” Miranda said. “Of course.”

She wrapped Miranda up in her arms again, fighting to keep herself from crying. She wasn’t sure whether she was crying from happiness or sadness; because it was the end of the universe or because there was another life waiting for her, on the other end of the apocalypse; because she wanted, so badly, for Miranda to stay, and knew, even as it broke her heart, that the best thing for Miranda was to go.

“I love you, Shepard,” Miranda said, quietly; her voice cracked from the pressure of needing to tell her, needing to know. There was no time to hide away their feelings anymore, no time to play coy.

“I love you, too,” Shepard said, staring deeply into Miranda’s eyes. Miranda smiled, and she saw the glittering trail of tears watering on Miranda’s tear-duct and flicked them away with one finger.

They didn’t talk after that; Miranda’s arms slid around her own and her breath quickly grew heavy, falling asleep despite Miranda’s best attempts to fight it. The day had been exhausting, and no matter how much they wanted to spend time together, neither of them could fight biological needs and sleep, Shepard knew, would soon claim them both, robbing them of their precious time together.

But what they had would be enough.

And the knowledge that Miranda was waiting for her on the other side was enough to keep her fighting through the apocalypse, if only to get to what awaited her on the other side.

 

 

 


End file.
